Maurin’s Shepard Matrix

Maurin first visited KOBA in February, where he gave a talk and performed his matrix instrument. We decided to tailor him a Shepard Matrix costume. But it was not until Maurin returned in May to perform at the noiselab festival at the Teufelsberg that we got around to making his costume.

Video of the Shepard Matrix Performance at Noiselab in the Teufelsberg, Berlin:

Maurin is a fellow e-textile inventor and over the last years has been experimenting with all kinds of ways of making an e-textile pressure-sensitive, multi-touch surface. Together with Maurin we have also received funding to design a next version of the Lulu – a solution for connecting e-textiles with fiber optics.

LINKS:
Maurin: http://etextile.org http://xyinteraction.free.fr/
Datapaulette: http://datapaulette.org/
Lulu: http://www.kobakant.at/KOBA/lulu-collaboration-with-maurin/
Noiselab: http://noiselab.org/

Measuring Maurin (February)

First experiments (February)

The original jacket:

Shaving the fur:

Sketches (February)

Production (May)

Testing the shape with a first calico toile:

Making from the real material:

Sewing up the seams and gluing on the straps:

Inside out and right-side out:

Adding circuitry for buttons:

First button spacer holes are not sensitive enough:

Thicker foam and bigger hole works:

We add eyelets so that Maurin can feel where the buttons are:

Inside view of buttons fused down in pouches:

Connection from leather circuit to wires:

Rainbow ribbon cable soldered to copper sewn traces – to be covered in hot glue (fingers crossed this will hold up!):

Finished inside:

Some 360 photos of the process: